The Obama Administration on Wednesday
announced its support for laws that prohibit therapies that attempt
to alter the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBT youth.

“As a part of our dedication to
protecting America's youth, the administration supports the effort to
ban the use of conversation therapy on minors because there's
overwhelming scientific evidence that demonstrates conversion
therapy, especially when practiced on young people, is neither
medically, nor ethically appropriate and can cause substantial harm,”
Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Barack Obama, told the
Washington
Blade.

The announcement is a response to a
White House petition posted following the death of Leelah Alcorn,
a 17-year-old Ohio teen who took her own life after her parents sent
her to therapy to alter her gender identity.

Her death fueled a movement for a
nationwide law banning conversion therapy to minors already in place
in California, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.

Jarrett said the administration was
putting “a spotlight” on “actions that are taking place in the
states” in hopes of building “some momentum for national
dialogue.”

“We believe that although a national
ban would require congressional action, we're hopeful that the
clarity of the evidence combined with the action taken by the states
will lead to broader action that the administration would support,”
she said.